Deni Avdija continues to dominate as Trail Blazers fall to Clippers

Another strong performance from Deni Avdija wasn’t enough for the Portland Trail Blazers on Sunday night, as they dropped their first road game of the season, 114–107, to the Los Angeles Clippers.

The Israeli forward led the Blazers with 23 points on 7-of-16 shooting, including 3-of-7 from beyond the arc and 6-of-7 from the free-throw line. He added seven rebounds, five assists and a steal but committed five turnovers in 32 minutes.

With the performance, Avdija became the first Portland player since Damian Lillard in the 2022–23 season to score at least 20 points in each of the team’s first three games.

The Clippers (2–1) continued their recent dominance over Portland, winning for the 19th time in their last 22 matchups since the 2019–20 season. The Blazers (1–2) took a 60–55 halftime lead after a 37–21 second quarter, but Los Angeles responded with a 32–22 third quarter and never trailed again.

Kawhi Leonard led the Clippers with 30 points and 10 rebounds. Ivica Zubac added 21 points and eight rebounds, while James Harden had 20 points and 13 assists.

Jrue Holiday supported Avdija with 21 points and seven assists. Shaedon Sharpe added 19 points on 7-of-24 shooting, and Jeremy Grant came off the bench to score 17.

Portland will return to action Monday night against the Los Angeles Lakers, who are without Luka Dončić and the injured LeBron James.